Conventionally, diagnostic systems have been known in which a patient visiting a hospital is radiographed by a technician as the target of inspection using an image generating apparatus such as a CR (Computed Radiography) apparatus, or an FPD (Flat Panel Detector) apparatus or the like, and the obtained images are subjected to image processing such as gradation processing so as to make it presentable for diagnosis, and then the image whose image processing has been completed is output and is provided to the doctor for image interpretation.
In such a diagnostic system, the diagnosis is carried out with a plurality of people in charge sharing the different roles such as, a person in charge (receptionist) for receiving the patient who has visited the hospital and issuing an order for radiography, a person in charge (technician) who actually radiographs the patient in the radiographing room and generates the image data, a person in charge (a technician who is designated from ordinary technicians) who judges whether or not it is possible to submit the obtained image for diagnosis which has been subjected to processing such as gradation characteristics, etc., and if necessary carries out correction of the contrast or the density, and a person in charge of interpreting the image (doctor) who judges the presence or absence of disease (diagnoses) based on the images.
Further, in large-scale medical facilities (hereinafter referred to as large-scale facilities) in which conventional diagnostic systems were assumed to be used, there was a plurality of image generating apparatuses and a plurality of technicians operating them, and even the consoles operating the image generating apparatuses, or the viewers. through which the doctors check the image data are also provided individually with their respective roles having been determined. Because of this, there is the possibility of mistakes being made between the patients and the image data. In view of this and in order to prevent this, a system has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1) in which all the apparatuses are coordinated with each other through a network, IDs are issued in each apparatus, and correspondences are established between results of the work processes carried out in each apparatus.
In such a system, the places of taking charge of the above roles are frequently at distant locations within a large hospital, such as the reception being in the first floor, radiology department being in the basement floor, and also, inside the radiology department, it is a common thing that a plurality of patients are radiographed by a plurality of technicians using a plurality of radiographing apparatuses at the same time, and plurality of patients are waiting all the time at each process, and IDs are issued for each work at each process so that there is no mistake in establishing correspondences between the images generated and the individual patients and the establishment of correspondences is done via a network of an HIS (Hospital Information System) or an RIS (Radiology Information System) (see, for example, Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3).
For example, at the reception counter in first floor, the contents of radiography are determined based on the main complaints made by the patient which are then registered along with the patient name. Because of this, a patient list such as the one shown in FIG. 8a gets prepared. Additions are made constantly to said patient list, and it is displayed in the work station (hereinafter referred to as “WS”) for the receptionist in first floor. At the same time, said patient list is displayed, via the network of RIS or HIS, in the console in the radiology department in the basement floor (here, a “console” is a work station that is placed in the radiology department and that displays the settings of the radiography conditions, or the radiography order data information of RIS or HIS, or the images obtained by radiographing a patient). Further, number of console units is very often made plural in order to increase the distributed processing efficiency, and these are connected mutually via the network, and when a particular radiography ID is selected in any console, in order to prevent duplicate radiography among multiple technicians, a method is used of announcing the fact that processing is being made in that patient list (this can be a flashing display, or changing the color of display, or giving a warning beep sound when the same inspection is specified).
The technician in the radiology department, using a nearby console, selects the radiography ID to be carried out from now on from the patient list being displayed, and registers the ID (cassette ID) of the X-ray image conversion medium (a cassette) to be used. Because of this, as is shown in FIG. 8b, the registered cassette ID is displayed in the cassette ID column of the patient list. For example, the technician moves to the radiographing room carrying three cassettes, and carries out radiography of the patient. After that, the used cassettes are read out by the reading apparatus. The reading apparatus reads out the cassette ID affixed to the inserted cassette transmits the image data after adding that cassette ID to it, and finally correspondence is established between the radiography ID (patient ID) and the generated image data. The generated image data is transmitted to the console in which the technician selected said radiography ID and is displayed in that console. At this stage, radiography positioning is confirmed, and radiography is done again if there is any defect in positioning, and a judgment is made as to whether or not correction of density or contrast, or frequency enhancement processing is to be made. After that, that image is stored in the image interpretation awaiting (diagnosis awaiting) server. An image interpreting doctor selects and displays in a workstation in the image interpretation room (very often this is a high resolution monitor for the functions of a viewer) the images of a particular patient from among the images stored in said image interpretation awaiting server, and carries out image interpretation (diagnosis).
In a large-scale facility in which a diagnostic system described above is used, the image interpreting doctor carries out interpretation of images as a specialist, and in preparation for the day when an image interpreting doctor carries out image interpretation, the radiography of all the parts of the patients to be radiographed is completed beforehand, and the information necessary for diagnosis is collected. Therefore, it is very common that an image interpreting doctor who has completed the image interpretation and diagnosis for one patient goes on to carry out the image interpretation and diagnosis for another patient. In other words, an image interpreting doctor, at the workstation in the image interpreting room, selects and displays the image of a patient who is the target from among the images stored in the image interpretation awaiting server, carries out image interpretation and diagnosis, and after completion of the image interpretation and diagnosis of one patient, selects and displays the image of the next patient from the images stored in the image interpretation awaiting server, and carries out the image interpretation and diagnosis of the next patient.    Patent Document 1: Specification of U.S. Pat. No. 5,334,851.    Patent Document 2: Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-159476.    Patent Document 3: Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-311524.